Statistics are accurate numbers, but you want a 'SOLD' sticker

May we look at the May numbers?

By Mark Schadenberg

I've looked at all the statistics with my analytic eyes, and I've determined that the Chicago Blackhawks should win the Stanley Cup.

Whoever has the best game plan, however, should win.

When real estate is considered, a confident game plan is very important. What is your Realtor going to do to assist in selling your house?

I love doing open houses as they truly create interest and some hype in your property.

ONE STEP BACK FOR MANY STEPS FORWARD

A thorough market analysis is part one of the listing process because my report will not only tell you how much your house is worth and its market value, but it will also include tips on getting your home prepared for the market, list all negative points especially depreciated items (décor and mechanicals), and will accentuate the positives such as updates, competitive advantages, and your neighbourhood amenities. My market analysis will point out the selling price of recent sales and describe which current listings are likely over-priced. I will draw a picture in detail about current local sales stats (Toronto numbers mean zero here and quite frankly the London-area or K-W tabulations are indicators, but not reflections), and finally at the end I will list my game plan to sell your home.

While I'm not a professional photographer, seven years at a daily newspaper taught me about taking good pictures and conducting my research.

There are many ways to promote myself as a Realtor, but you want marketing of your home.

JOB INTERVIEW

If you're looking for a Realtor, ask them prompting questions about current sales numbers.

If you're talking to me, I will very quickly refer to the ups and downs on a chart and why it may be occurring. I firmly believe that prices currently are moving upward in the $200,000 - $300,000 price range locally because there is a true lack of listings – the inventory is low, or you could say the shelves don't include enough chocolate chip cookies for the kids' lunch by Friday.

MAY WE LOOK AT MAY'S TOTALS

May in 2015 saw a slightly lower total of homes sold in the Woodstock-Ingersoll district board territory (WIDREB), but in my opinion that's because May of 2014 was a revival month after an extremely slow winter of 2014 due to a bad winter. Our post-Christmas winter of 2015 was also colder than normal. I'm not a climatologist, but I think Canucks simply said this year: 'Let's just deal with it.”

To compare, the first three months of 2014 saw 204 sales, as compared to 284 in the first quarter of 2015

So, May of 2015 had 133 sales – slightly lower than the 139 of May 2014. The best number for May was the outstanding 195 in May of 2005 as hysteria for the Toyota announcement was running rampant like a wild bear in backyards of Newmarket.

The lowest Mays in recent times (see the attachment) was 2012 with 97 and 2009 with just 98. The 2009 economist recap looks back to the auto sector crisis, which has an obvious effect on the Oxford economy. In March of 2011 there was a Tsunami in Japan and in May of 2011 there was only 112 WIDREB sales reported – again not a coincidence.

My chart below on year-end sales is an indicator of the local economy and how the waves of the ocean of the world dictate that numbers will go up and down.

People need a home, but it's their consumer confidence which pushes them through their bank turnstiles and around the velvet ropes to have a chat with a loan officer about amortization and beacon scores.

Only one link at the bottom of today's prose, plus some of my produced flyers.

BOTTOM LINE

It doesn't matter if it's the hottest market ever or as cold as a freezer in Antarctica, if you're asking price is too high your home will not sell as quickly as you want it to. While establishing 'market value' can be attributed to both motivated buyers and sellers, sold stickers are applied usually only to front-lawn signs of vendors who consider themselves motivated to sell (See internet link below for more details).

Mark Schadenberg, Sales Representative

Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES designation)

Royal LePage Triland Realty

(519) 537-1553, cell or text

Email: mschadenberg@rogers.com

LINK:

http://homebuying.about.com/od/sellingahouse/qt/012308_B4Sellng.htm?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=shareurlbuttons

Home insurance concerns noted in a published story

Wiring, plumbing, wet basements are all insurance woes a house may have 

By Mark Schadenberg

The National Post newspaper recently published a story – a checklist essentially – noting 14 items to be aware of when looking at a home and how these items could effect your insurance rates.

I have written on this subject before and it's interesting to note that banks (Concerns revolve around coverage on high-ratio mortgages by CMHC) and insurance companies continue to make their guidelines more strict.

The list in the link below is quite extensive and most certainly includes electricity – both knob-and-tube wiring and aluminium. When showing older homes, I still see a lot of 60-amp service fuse boxes too.

It seems too obvious to mention, but a wood-burning fireplace makes the list. As a Realtor, my concerns surround the condition of the flue and whether of not the current owner has updated WETT certification. I showed a 50-year-old house a few weeks ago, which had a brick frame around the fireplace and its mantel, but there was absolutely no hearth, so the floor, which was hardwood, was less than 3 feet away from embers.

Oil heating is a concern due mostly to the age of your oil tank and whether or not it's outside or in the basement. Your oil supplier should know the age of the tank. You could say it's like your bbq propane tank on your back deck, when it's too old to be filled up, the gas station will not fill it.

Insurance folks will always worry about a wet basement, so you most certainly should too. Old galvanized plumbing is always a red flag as it rusts from the inside (where the water is) to the outside. Other concerns include cracks in the foundation, type of foundation (stone, block, poured concrete or wood), presence of a sump pump and a battery backup for it, and any signs of mold. I have never believed that the white salty look (efflorescence) on basement walls was anything more than a sign of mustiness caused by very low amounts of moisture.

Leaky basements can certainly be fixed from either the inside or the outside.

Keep in mind, some very low-lying areas will see water come up from the basement drains if the storm sewers are over-loaded.

Not on the National Post list, but likely the newest foe for possible insurance claims is new technology – Pex (Cross-linked polyethylene) plumbing. Although the Pex system was invented in the 1960's for mass-market use, it didn't really become popular for the movement of potable (drinking) water until about a dozen years ago. Before you call a plumber to replace all your plastic tubes in your basement joists, it can be added that the Kitec brand seems to be the trouble maker, and it's no longer manufactured, but could be in a house constructed up to about 2005.

The newer current Pex system is most definitely still in common use today.

It's interesting to note that many home offers are now conditional upon an inspection and also conditional upon obtaining insurance on the subject property. The insurance companies know which homes have had claims previously.

As is said in all industries, an educated consumer is the best consumer, but you can also be overly cautious and that's not going to assist in your home-buying process.

Have any questions, call me today! Let's begin the process of finding your home.

LINKS:

http://business.financialpost.com/personal-finance/beware-these-14-home-features-will-raise-your-insurance

http://www.thestar.com/life/homes/2015/03/06/kitec-plumbing-in-your-home-will-cost-you.html

http://thechronicleherald.ca/homesnews/1155792-what-homeowners-should-know-about-kitec

http://www.hgtv.ca/propertyvirgins/article/what-is-knob-tube-wiring/

http://www.wettinc.ca/

http://www.basementquestions.com/efflorescenc.php

Mark Schadenberg, Sales Representative

Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES designation)

Royal LePage Triland Realty

757 Dundas St, Woodstock

www.wesellwoodstock.com

(519) 537-1553, cell or text

Email: mschadenberg@rogers.com

Twitter: markroyallepage

Facebook: Mark Schadenberg, Royal LePage Triland

Discussion . . . Direction . . . Determination . . . Destination

'Oxford Remembers' is 100 events commemorating the First World War

Exhibit depicting Oxford's contribution to the Great War currently touring area museums

Recent death of local historian Robin Barker-James adds to the solemn recollections

By Mark Schadenberg

“Reaction and Recruitment: Oxford Goes to War”

That is the name of a museum exhibit organized by the Woodstock Museum and other county partners to commemorate 100 years since the First World War (1914-18).

The exhibit is currently at the Ingersoll Cheese and Agricultural Museum on Harris Street in Ingersoll until June 21, and you can visit the artifacts and pictures on Saturday, May 30 during Doors Open Oxford (www.doorsopenoxford.ca).

The collection will later shift to the Norwich & District Museum (Stover Street North), June 26 – Sept 4. The show will be at the Woodstock Museum National Historic Site from Sept. 15 – Nov. 1, and then Nov. 8 – 30 at the Princeton museum.

The Ingersoll museum will also host the provincial touring exhibit callesd: Dear Sadie – Loves, Lives and Remembrance from Ontario's First World War, July 2 – Aug. 31.

THE GREAT WAR

A century is a long-time to recall the event(s) that began the First World War and escalated the battles to encompass such a large geographical area. Canadians must recall and remember our role in the war.

The First World War – as historians will regale the story – essentially erupted following the assassination on June 28, 1914 of archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo. Ferdinand was an important figure in Austria and Hungary. Even as I read back on accounts, it seems – and I can always use additional clarification – rather interesting that the Great War would begin after Ferdinand was killed by what can essentially be called a rogue sect, which was called Black Hand. In other words and by using terminology used often today, he was assassinated by terrorists.

Exactly one month later on July 28, 1914, Austria-Hungary would declare war on Serbia. Countries chose sides as Russia was an ally of Serbia . . . and Germany was aligned with Austria-Hungary. Soon, France declared war against Germany, and by Aug. 4 Britain also declared war on Germany. With Britain now in the conflict, it was a quick corollary to realize additional countries would also be part of the First World War, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, and others which were dominions or colonies to Britain (England).

The United States didn't join the war effort with troops until April of 1917.

Many other countries also declared war or at least severed ties with other nations, including several in South and Central America. For example, Brazil would declare war on Germany in 1917. Japan and China both declared war on Austria-Hungary and Germany.

Meanwhile, Greece, Italy and Romania also fought against Austria-Hungary.

Volumes of history books, and dare I say encyclopedias, write about the various significant battles through to 1918. For Canadians, Belgium was a country of focus, including the well-documented battles at what is referred to as The Western Front – the various conflicts at Ypres and Passchendaele.

Reading archives on the internet is something I enjoy whether it's Canada's role in world history or on the more entertaining side – sports.

DM SUTHERLAND

The www.oxfordremembers.ca site is listing and promoting 100 events through to 2018 that will recognize just about every contribution Oxford County made to those war efforts and the history penned and compiled from the time. The Oxford Rifles was a local militia and a local historic figure named Donald Matheson Sutherland was tasked to sign up men for the war enlistment from all of Oxford, but also the surrounding area. (I still find it incredibly sad that the name Lieutenant-Colonel Dr. DM Sutherland was taken off Winchester Street public school by the Thames Valley school board but that's a tale to repeated on another day in an entry specifically about this Canadian hero). Sutherland, who died in 1970, was later a federal member of Parliament for Oxford, beginning in 1925, and eventually named a cabinet member as the minister of National Defence and then the federal Health department.

DM Sutherland

Back to the story at hand, the Oxford Remembers series website is a resource everyone over the age of 15 should study and then plan on attending some of the upcoming events.

There is biographical material on soldiers and nurses from this area. There are recollections of actual thoughts and feelings of the troops through copies of postcards. Photographs, including pictures of recruitment day in Tavistock and Woodstock's Victoria Park, are all part of the website and fabric of Oxford's contributions to the war.

Oxford County's war effort would include the 168th Overseas Battalion – a group also known as 'Oxford's Own'.

ROBIN BARKER-JAMES

Sadly, back on April 21 of this year, Tillsonburg-based teacher and historian Robin Barker-James died at the age of 59. Barker-James was known for staging re-enactments of battles, including digging trenches, so that his students could learn almost first-hand the tragedies and turmoils of war.

The Barker-James connection to Oxford Remembers is the fact that this coming October, he had scheduled a trip to the Western Front to visit and conduct a tour of Belgium, France and other countries.
Personally, I haven't been to Europe since I was 12 years old, but apparently this once-in-a-lifetime trip was to include still-existing trenches and forts, and European museums and memorials.

Ironically, but at the same time appropriately, on the same day as Doors Open Oxford, there will be a public service to honour Robin Barker-James in the Lions Auditorium at the Tillsonburg community centre at 10:30 a.m.

Robin Barker-James

DOORS OPEN OXFORD

Today (May 28), I made a quick trip to Ingersoll to walk through their museum and chatted with curator Scott Gillies. During the Doors Open Oxford event you can enjoy the 'sports theme' memorabilia on display, including a terrific tribute to Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Oscar Judd (1908 – 1995) and additional old trophies, jerseys, team photos, plaques, plus a prominent display of an Ingersoll man who rode his bicycle through more than 30 countries.

The Ingersoll museum as I noted above is currently hosting the Oxford Remembers exhibit as well.
For more info on this program, dial 519 842-2294.

LINKS:

http://www.oxfordremembers.ca/

www.oxfordcounty.ca

www.woodstockmuseum.ca

http://www.1047.ca/news/local-news/they-still-have-names-event-traces-oxfords-roots-in-the-great-war/

http://www.tillsonburgnews.com/2013/11/11/oxford-remembers-itswn

www.heroesofzorra.ca

http://www.heroesofzorra.ca/index.php/veterans/embro/item/sutherland-donald-matheson

www.oxfordcreativeconnections.com

www.firstworldwar.com

http://www.tillsonburgnews.com/2015/05/01/robin-barker-james-a-legend-of-a-man

http://www.obitsforlife.com/obituary/1090486/Barker-James-Robin.php

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/06/01/tillsonburg_camp_an_unblinking_look_at_first_world_wars_savagery.html

http://www.tillsonburgnews.com/2015/05/01/the-world-is-a-stage

Mark Schadenberg, Sales Representative

Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES designation)

Royal LePage Triland Realty

757 Dundas St, Woodstock

www.wesellwoodstock.com

(519) 537-1553, cell or text

Email: mschadenberg@rogers.com

Twitter: markroyallepage

Facebook: Mark Schadenberg, Royal LePage Triland

Discussion . . . Direction . . . Determination . . . Destination

Asking price on former French school in Woodstock reduced

Interested in buying a former school in Woodstock ?

Huron Street one-level previous K-8 school closed in 2011
Asking price is now $950,000; highlight is modern gymnasium

By Mark Schadenberg

It's hard to believe that when I was growing up (elementary school in the 1970's) there were five separate board schools in Woodstock and now there are only two – St. Michael's in the city's northeast on Devonshire Avenue and St. Patrick's in the southwest on Parkinson Road.

The former St. Mary's on Oxford is open as Holy Family French Immersion, so I guess it counts as active, but it is repurposed.

The previous St. Rita's on Dundas is still planned to be a future furniture store, while the old St. Joseph's on Huron Street evolved into the French-only Ste. Marguerite Bourgeoys K-8 school and is now FOR SALE for a likely re-development of its 2.7 acres. It was listed at $1.5 million originally, but the current asking price is $950,000.

While the main school for Ecole Marguerite Bourgeoys (EMB) was likely built in the 1950's, the school's gymnasium was constructed likely around 1990 and is probably only approximately 25 years old. The gym includes a stage, plus a ramp to that stage for modern accessibility.  

If a renovation was part of the plans by the next owner, many uses are possible because in theory a group could buy it and change the zoning (currently Neighbourhood Institutional) to a youth centre, social centre, church or even a daycare facility. The current layout includes eight very large classrooms – learning spaces large enough for 40 students. On my visit, it was noted that only two of the classrooms still have their original asbestos-like floor tiles. The removal of the floors in those two rooms would not be a significant undertaking. Each room has its own heating / cooling system as the manager of the building noted that the Windsor-based school system (Providence: www.cscprovidence.ca) had a policy for air conditioning in all its classrooms.

The building additionally features two modest front offices, but it's the gymnasium addition which makes the thoughts of a future use intriguing. The gym floor measures 72' x 44' – not quite a NBA size basketball court, but certainly large enough for regulation-size volleyball, and there is also a very tall open steel-truss ceiling.

Could the current building be converted into apartments? Certainly, but with a zoning change. Keep in mind, this is generally a residential neighbourhood and there is a small private hospital (long-term car facility) only a couple doors to the north.

At the end of the day, if all the building structures were removed the space left would suit up to 12 houses.

MLS: 74416

Asking: $950,000

Listed By: Peter Vandersar (Royal LePage Triland)

Frontage: 113 feet along Huron Street, but the L-shaped lot (See map. Property no longer includes portables.) opens up to the back schoolyard.

Call Peter -- the listing rep -- or call Mark Schadenberg (me) to view anytime at (519) 537-1553. 

LINKS:

http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/2009/07/07/french-language-school-ahead-by-leaps-and-bounds

http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/2009/06/01/new-french-language-school-to-open

http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/2014/01/15/business-owner-applying-to-turn-st-ritas-into-furniture-store

http://markroyallepage.blogspot.ca/2014/01/hurdle-jumped-for-proposed-furniture.html

http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_19821031_bourgeoys_fr.html

Mark Schadenberg, Sales Representative

Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES designation)

Royal LePage Triland Realty

757 Dundas St, Woodstock

(519) 537-1553, cell or text

Email: mschadenberg@rogers.com

Twitter: markroyallepage

Facebook: Mark Schadenberg, Royal LePage Triland

Discussion . . . Direction . . . Determination . . . Destination

Farm land versus city subdivisions

Battle to expand municipalities for residential growth seen around southern Ontario

Thousands of farm acres have been lost, should this trend be stopped?

By Mark Schadenberg

Cities are growing exponentially, sometimes some of the province's best farmland is across the street from a residential subdivision.

It's truly a four-way battle pitting developers creating roads and homes, against cities wanting additional industrial / commercial acreage, farmers requiring large tracts of arable land to feed these cities, while the natural spaces such as wetlands must also be maintained. A fifth member of the conflict could be other land uses such as pit mines and valuable aggregates.

You can't create more land.

In Woodstock, the Havelock Corners subdivision is found on the south side of Tollgate Road (County Road 17) and thriving farms are on the north side. On the south side of the 401, Patullo Ridge commercial / industrial park dominates one side of the road and is within city limits, whereas a Norwich Township farm is directly across the road. Before the previous municipal election, Woodstock had plans in motion to possibly consume a farm on Patullo Road through purchasing about 100 acres (from a farming family) for industrial use and then compensating Norwich Township in some fashion as the municipal boundary would shift resulting in less tax dollars long-term for the Norwich community.

Woodstock is interesting as we promote our amazing location at the 401 and 403 interchange (www.cometothecrossroads.com) for commerce and manufacturing facilities, but rely heavily also on the agricultural industry, including hosting the gigantic September trade show – Canada's Outdoor Farm Show.

It wasn't too many years ago that the Bakker and Virtue family farms on Parkinson Road were essentially expropriated by Woodstock to create the Commerce Way Park, which in-turn has created lots of employment with the arrival (or re-location of): Sysco, Tilt-Wall, Trans-Mit Steel, Miller Zell, Ancra, Day & Ross, Scholastic Books and others.

Read below some of the startling statistics drawing a picture about evaporating farm land in Ontario.

In this article, I'm tossing out a lot of questions and feel it's a conundrum of not being able to also supply answers. Do we define an absolute moratorium on converting any more rural sprawling fields of corn and soy beans into back splits, shopping plazas, warehouses and factories?

The province of Ontario has created its somewhat strict game plan called the Provincial Policy Statement and has been formulating on-going modifications of that plan since. The word at Queen's Park, which I have written about on previous occasions, is 'Intensification', which means several things – build up instead of out, create smaller residential lots, refurbish old brownfield properties, and promote severing large municipal lots to build in-fill homes.

There are also stories posted here where the hustle and houses of the GTA are literally next door to existing and on-going agricultural enterprises in places like Mississauga and Vaughan.

A Toronto Star story and video describes how massive Mississauga and the expansion of the 401 and later the arrival of the 407 has diminished the size of one particular family farm in Mississauga. Oddly enough, the family surname in the prose is Hustler.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Over the years, the farm’s sources of income have shifted. For decades, the Hustlers grew wheat and oats, but the crops became less profitable as the farm diminished in size. In 1957, when a northern section was sold to the government to build the 401, it dropped from 100 acres to 82.6. Beginning in the 1990s, land was first expropriated for the 407 on-ramp, then for a hydro generation project that was never built, bringing the acreage to 52.

In the 1960s, the farm income shifted to egg production. For 30 years, Frank and Theresa owned 1,600 hens, and Frank sold them door to door in Brampton. In the 1990s, they downgraded to about 100 hens, then gave them up after Frank required heart surgery in 2003.

Their income now comes from their cattle ― 38 head ― and the three dozen sheep they’re raising for meat. Their farmland is used to feed the livestock; they grow sorghum, a high-protein grain that maximizes the amount of feed they can grow in a small area.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Even with improvements in smoke-stack emissions, air quality is an important part of quality of life in large centres.

In nearby London, the north end of the Forest City is quickly growing to swallow up Arva.

When I was kid, there was no Masonville on Fanshawe Park Road. London has grown northward and westward in this area. The Sunningdale Road north of Masonville is the site of several subdivisions – large apartment buildings (condos and rentals) for intensification and detached homes.

Meanwhile, the Ontario Farmland Trust wants to maintain its say and has a mandate to be a proponent of ending this shift of agriculture to mega-lopolis, saying in a link below:

()()()()()()()()()()()()()

In the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) alone, more than 2,000 farms and 150,000 acres of farmland were lost to production in the two decades between 1976 and 1996. Although farmland loss is not tracked as extensively today as it was in previous decades, we know that the amount of farmland in the GTA decreased by at least 50,000 acres between 1996 and 2001 and that Ontario lost at least 600,000 acres of farmland between 1996 and 2006.

This includes 18% of Ontario’s Class 1 farmland

()()()()()()()()()()()()()

The Ontario Federation of Agriculture uses Statistics Canada numbers to back its writings about the odd battle of urban sprawl versus growing crops. The population of Ontario is growing, people need to eat, but where's the top-grade arable farmland to produce vegetables and other food?

The excerpt from a OFA story below, plus many links listed at the bottom of this writing, paints a conundrum, but in an easily understood dilemma:

()()()()()()()()()()()()()

. . . And if losing farmland to development, urban sprawl and encroachment wasn’t bad enough, our growing population is putting increasing pressure on farmers to produce more on less land. Based on the Ministry of Finance’s projections, Ontario’s population will grow from 13.5 million in 2012 to 17.4 million in 2036. That’s nearly 30% more people in 24 years. Feeding our own province on an ever diminishing supply of productive farmland is going to be tough . . .

()()()()()()()()()()()()()

You can study many provincial areas by looking at lines on a map, defined and called: Greenbelt, Oak Ridges Moraine, Niagara Escarpment, and of course provincial parks such as Algonquin. If these areas do maintain their provincial government imposed limitations on development that will in-turn increase the land values for all properties on the perimeter. People who believe Mississauga is too crowded, have moved to Guelph so the home prices there have increased. People who believe Guelph is too crowded and too expensive, will eventually move to Woodstock.

One positive in all this, is that agricultural land the City of Woodstock currently owns and is earmarked for future industrial purposes, is not sitting fallow as the City does rent it out to farmers.

LINKS:

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/05/17/can-town-and-country-coexist.html

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/05/31/mississaugas_last_family_farm_hangs_on.html

http://ontariofarmlandtrust.ca/about/whysavefarmland/

http://www.ofa.on.ca/media/news/put-farmland-first-to-preserve-province%E2%80%99s-productivity

www.greenbeltontario.org

http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/2012/07/13/city-of-woodstock-continues-development-of-commerce-way-industrial-park

http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/2014/09/08/woodstock-to-pay-local-family-an-additional-17-million-for-expropriated-land

http://www.cometothecrossroads.com/news-mobile/177-two-new-tenants-in-commercewaybusiness-park

http://www.lfpress.com/2015/02/08/good-things-grow-in-southwestern-ontario

http://www.betterfarming.com/online-news/most-canada%E2%80%99s-farmland-loss-occurs-ontario-and-quebec-56631

http://www.lfpress.com/2015/05/18/revamp-released-tuesday

http://www.mah.gov.on.ca/Page1485.aspx

http://www.am980.ca/2015/05/19/planning-environment-agenda/

Mark Schadenberg, Sales Representative

Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES designation)

Royal LePage Triland Realty

757 Dundas St, Woodstock

www.wesellwoodstock.com

(519) 537-1553, cell or text

Email: mschadenberg@rogers.com

Twitter: markroyallepage

Facebook: Mark Schadenberg, Royal LePage Triland

Discussion . . . Direction . . . Determination . . . Destination

Oxford County may sell some real estate holdings and . . .

Oxford may sell some real estate holdings and direct those dollars to affordable housing projects
An Innerkip seniors building hopes to expand by another 16 apartments  

By Mark Schadenberg

The County of Oxford has announced its willing to possibly sell some of its real estate assets, including vacant land, to build more affordable housing locally.

Oxford County, according to a story in the Woodstock Sentinel-Review below, realizes that some of its land inventory may not be suitable for a residential use due to zoning or other locational issues, so the county would sell these parcels at market value and convert the dollars into an increased budget (allocated to the department's reserve fund for upcoming approved projects) for affordable housing. This would be a county-wide initiative and not just a move to enhance residential opportunities in Woodstock. However, the story adds that the vacancy rate in Woodstock and Tillsonburg is much lower than in Ingersoll.

This plan will obviously also create employment in the construction trades sector of the economy.

The county's director of human services (not sure I like the department name) is Paul Beaton (pictured) and he is the focal point of a video on the Oxford website which discusses many alternatives or options for creating social housing, including re-purposing older buildings. The current renovation of a former church at 34 Riddell Street in Woodstock is an example of this, where both private sector and not-for-profit groups are involved in creating affordable living spaces and in-turn these developers receive compensation for their tenants earning less than $30,000 per year in a combined 'family' income. A not-for-profit example is the massive refurbishment at 18 VanSittart in Woodstock by Indwell.

A few years ago, a church at 25 Winniett Street in Woodstock (Multani Management) was converted to apartments with many of them designated as below 'market rents'.

There was also brand new construction of stackable townhouses at 320 Dundas in Woodstock – built about 10 years ago.

Clippings from County of Oxford agenda

The May 13 agenda for county council had four separate proposals / bylaws on the docket pertaining to Beaton's department, including adding 16 affordable seniors apartments (12 1-bedroom and 4 2-bedroom units are planned) to the Innerkip multi-residential project located at 30 Balsam Street. The county's contribution would be $688,000. Currently, the Balsam apartment building consists of 29 units.

Meanwhile, the surplus plan report on the agenda was 5 pages long, but it did not specify any particular Oxford-owned land or buildings ideal for such re-purposing or allocated for a 'for sale' sign.

The so-called Housing First Policy must be studied and approved by county council, so it will be interesting to watch this item as it re-appears on future agendas.

LINKS:

http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/2015/05/13/the-sale-of-surplus-land-and-county-owned-assets-could-finance-a-proposed-affordable-housing-plan

www.oxfordcounty.ca

http://www.oxfordcounty.ca/Services-for-You/Human-Services

http://www.mcss.gov.on.ca/en/mcss/programs/social/apply_online.aspx

http://www.futureoxford.ca/

www.indwell.ca

Mark Schadenberg, Sales Representative

Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES designation)

Royal LePage Triland Realty

757 Dundas St, Woodstock

www.wesellwoodstock.com

(519) 537-1553, cell or text

Email: mschadenberg@rogers.com

Twitter: markroyallepage

Facebook: Mark Schadenberg, Royal LePage Triland

Discussion . . . Direction . . . Determination . . . Destination

Lots of information at 'Relay For Life' Information Night

Exactly one month before Canadian Cancer Society fundraiser in Woodstock
Fundraising should be personal -- explain why you Relay 

By Mark Schadenberg

The Relay For Life 'Information Night' on May 13 marked exactly one month from the 2015 event in Woodstock in support of the Canadian Cancer Society.

It was a good opportunity for Oxford community office manager Jan Cunningham to stand behind a podium and talk about fundraising with the many registered participants attending the session at Fanshawe College.

“When working on your fundraising plan – make it personal and you'll raise more money. Tell your friends and family why you Relay,” said Cunningham, who added that this philosophy also works when you're not face-to-face with your hopeful sponsors.

“Add your picture to your request on Facebook and in social media and be sure to show your gratitude as well.”

Jan Cunningham and long-time Relay organizer and CCS Oxford board member John Hunt

Relay For Life (www.relayforlife.ca/woodstock) is at CASS high school on Saturday, June 13 with Opening Ceremonies planned for 6 p.m. This is actually a time change from previous years when Relay was a 7 p.m. - 7 a.m. walk around the track and the Opening Ceremony was at 6:45.

The Survivors' Lap will be immediately after an address from organizers and will begin around 6:30.

With Relay For Life now ending at midnight and with participants wanting to enjoy as many moments as possible with the lit Luminaries, the Luminary Ceremony will now be at 8:45 p.m. (instead of 10 p.m. in past years).

LUMINARY SALES

The Luminary sales drive continues at many churches and co-ordinator Marie Bowerman notes that the best place to buy your Luminary from a retail / public location would be Scotiabank. She adds that Scotiabank in Woodstock will match the donations made dollar-for-dollar up to $5,000.

At Relay, Luminaries surround the perimeter of the track to honour those who lost their battle to cancer, but also to recognize the cancer survivors who either received a clean bill of health or continue their journey to be cancer-free.

The blitz day for promoting Luminary sales will be Friday, May 22 and Saturday, May 23. The May 23rd date is important with the gigantic Relay Rummage Sale scheduled for the Foodland parking lot on Dundas Street. (Call the office at 537-5592 if you plan on having a table -- used articles, bake sale, barbecue, etc) On those two days, you can also purchase a Luminary at tables set up at No Frills (also a significant sponsor of the Relay food tent), Zehr's and Food Basics.

PLEDGE SHEETS

Cunningham added that the Oxford community office at 65 Springbank Ave North is a great place to pick up pledge sheets.

“One statistic we often use is that 210 Canadians die from cancer every day and we're working hard to find a cure,” added Cunningham.

“We do have a lot of fun information about Relay too, including an info sheet with a game plan about how you can raise $400 in 7 days.”

In a Woodstock Sentinel-Review story published back in December (see newspaper links below), Cunningham was already creating hype for the new format for Relay For Life.

“We are excited to be evolving and strengthening our signature fundraiser,” said Cunningham. “We’re looking to take this powerful event to the next level and leave Relay for Life participants captivated by the experience and engaged in the Canadian Cancer Society’s important work of creating more survivors every day. We are evolving Relay for Life to help raise more money to fight cancer and help people facing cancer now.”

LINKS:
http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/2014/12/08/bold-and-big-changes-to-relay

http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/2015/04/07/new-initiative-gives-participants-a-chance-to-train-ahead-of-time-and-get-in-shape-for-relay-for-life-fundraiser

2014 Sentinel-Review recap story

http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/2014/06/13/woodstocks-relay-for-life-takes-on-cancer-again